Niichan
by LoveToTheCucumber
Summary: Itachi is thrilled about the upcoming addition to the family and is positive that he'll be able to deal with the consequences. But young Sasuke is skeptic. *AU*
1. Arc 1 Somersault

**Nii-chan**

**Arc 01**

_**Somersault**_

The young boy opened his eyes, immediately catching sight of the slumbering person next to him. It was a rather quiet morning in spite of the fact that it had been the rustling in the kitchen that had awakened Sasuke. There was an extravagant chirping going on outside the open window. When the bird first started singing, the sound it produced was very much comparable to the sound a microphone made when being held too close to the speaker. But as it gained momentum, it sounded more like the bird was madly calling for someone. The black haired boy turned his head to look out the window. There sat a Japanese bush warbler. Sasuke knew that because it was a common bird. His brother had taught him the names of several birds.

"Breakfast's ready." The boy guided his tired eyes towards the door where a short woman with long red hair stood with a wide smile adorning her face, though her expression changed when she saw that Itachi was still sleeping. "Oi, koibito, Sasuke needs to go to school soon. Don't you think it's time to get up and get ready?"

The pale boy looked down at his brother whose body started moving under the kakebuton.

"Just a minute," he answered lazily and grabbed his brother, forcing him down again just as he was about to follow Mei into the kitchen.

"Nii-chan! I'm gonna be late for school." Sasuke was not too happy about being pulled around against his will so he put on a pout.

Itachi just laughed at the face he made. "You don't even mean that. Come here." The young boy giggled when his brother pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around him.

Sasuke could not help but nuzzle up against his brother's warm body. He inhaled the sweet scent of the other's hair and buried his nose in it. There was nothing like Itachi's hair. It smelled just as good as Mei's, probably because they were using the same shampoo, but Itachi's had not gone hard from several bleaches or hair dyes. No, Itachi's was as soft as a kitten's fur. Sasuke liked that.

Five minutes went by before Mei called again, this time in a more serious tone. She was not the strict type at all, in fact, after Itachi, she was the mildest and most gentle person Sasuke knew.

Itachi finally dragged his body out of bed, leaving Sasuke's small form without a source of heat. The young boy groaned with dissatisfaction and curled up into a ball. He was on the verge of sleep yet again.

"Otouto, we better get up now." The black haired boy cracked open one eye and watched his brother get dressed. But when Itachi turned around to see if Sasuke had gotten up, the boy instantly closed it again to pretend to be asleep.

Itachi sighed loudly though far from fretful.

"What am I gonna do about you?" he chuckled and went to the footer of the bed to tickle Sasuke's feet.

Sasuke could not hold his mask and burst into laughter right away. "S-Stop, Nii-chan, ple-please!"

Itachi smiled heartwarmingly as he granted Sasuke his wish, patting his feet lovingly a few times before walking out the bedroom. Sasuke was on his feet in no time and followed right behind his brother to the kitchen where the bright green eyed Mei stood waiting.

Itachi followed Sasuke to school as he usually did once both of them were finally ready. Before they parted ways, Sasuke had overheard Itachi talking over the phone. He knew it had something to do with work when Itachi told the man to come to the given location alone. The young boy was not completely sure what his brother's work actually were or what it was he sold to all those customers, but he had figured out a while ago that it was not all legal because of the many visits the police had paid them over the years.

Sasuke was an excellent student and he did not mind going to school at all, but occasionally, his mind would drift away from kanji characters, math tests and similar things to think of what awaited him at home instead. He was a pretty popular guy with both genders in his class because of his charms and brains, but still, Sasuke did not have many friends. The only one he really needed in his life was his brother.

At two o'clock, Itachi came to pick up Sasuke from school. They took the short way home that day. Instead of walking through the park to watch some of the elders play ping-pong or bet on which of the older ladies would run cold first, they crossed the Sora bridge and the broad road Itachi always told Sasuke not to cross without him or Mei by his side. It felt like they were in a hurry, but Sasuke had no idea why.

He noticed that a small yet unmistakable smile was playing on Itachi's lips. It had been ever since he came to pick him up. Itachi usually wore that imperturbable smile whenever he and Mei had gotten some alone time. But that day it seemed somewhat different. Sasuke could not put a finger on it, but something was definitely different. Perhaps it was the way his brother's eyes sparkled with blessedness?

They arrived at home earlier than normal that day. Mei was waiting by a table stacked with all sorts of delicious food. Sasuke especially noticed the juubako with osechi-ryouri that was placed exactly in the middle of the kotatsu.

Itachi quickly switched from his shoes to his slippers and walked over to his older girlfriend who tilted back her head to give him a welcome-home kiss.

Sasuke raised a leery brow as he went to sit down at the table. What was different?

"Sasuke?" Itachi said suddenly when they were done eating. Well, everyone except for Sasuke. He was still busy with gorging himself on all the fish within his reach. The young boy's stuffed face looked up at his brother, signaling that he was listening.

Both Mei and Itachi chuckled happily when seeing Sasuke was enjoying the festive meal.

"There's something we wanna tell you." Sasuke's eyes wandered from Itachi to Mei. She had that same smile. What was going on?

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, nearly spitting out some of the fish he had chewed thoroughly already. He was getting impatient. All they did were smile at each other.

"I'm pregnant." Mei's smile then went from ear to ear and she blushed slightly when Itachi started petting her thigh.

That night Sasuke slept in his own bed. He lay wondering what it would be like once the baby came. Would it feel like having a younger brother?

He bit his lip and turned in his bed. He just hoped that things would not continue with feeling so different.

**oOoOoOoOoOo**

**So far, I have six arcs written. I plan on making a seventh arc, but that would just be an epilogue.**

**Anyway, the chapters are not going to be particularly long, but they will vary in length. Most is around one thousand words while two are over two thousand words and only one chapter is under a thousand words. But instead of getting long chapters, you will get an update everyday till the story is over, which will be in approximately seven days – if I write the epilogue. Well, I guess I'll wait and see...**

**I had a lot of fun writing this, though it's been an intense couple of days – almost three days straight and finally, I finished it.**

**The fic is an exclusive to my longer story, Anything Else?, but even if you aren't familiar with it, it shouldn't really make a difference when reading this. The only thing you won't be able to - when not knowing the other fic - is compare Itachi's characters: discover how he acts when he isn't at parties. So it really doesn't have anything to do with the story itself.**

**I hope you enjoyed it and will be back for more tomorrow :)**

**PS: My friend, Adamantyne, just finished another story called "A Child" with Yamato, Kakashi and Naruto. You should read it. If the pairing doesn't sound very compelling, you should still go and check out some of her other stories. She's a GREAT writer^^!**

**See ya' tomorrow :D**


	2. Arc 2 Unexpected Help

**Arc 02**

**Unexpected Help**

Sasuke awoke when his alarm clock went off. It felt kind of strange waking up to that annoying alarm since he was used to either Mei or Itachi waking him up at least five minutes before his alarm was supposed to go off, but he tried not to put too much thought into it. Instead, he got up, grabbed his clothes and headed directly for the bathroom. But he froze a second after walking into the kitchen, where his big brother stood talking with a stranger in the doorway.

He figured he was not supposed to eavesdrop on them when realizing that they were practically whispering so he hid himself behind one of the kitchen counters. From there he would be able to follow their conversation. It came to an abrupt halt, though, and Itachi disappeared into Sasuke's bedroom. The black haired boy cocked his head as he tried to find reason in Itachi's action, but his brother did not give him long to puzzle over it when suddenly he was back in the kitchen, handing over a small bag to the lanky stranger. Itachi received money back.

"Sasuke," Mei said firmly as soon as Itachi had closed the front door. He had not seen her walk up from behind him. "You should be getting ready for school." Sasuke just nodded and went inside the bathroom. He could not make out much of what his brother and Mei were saying to each other, but the disappointed tone in Mei's voice was not to be misinterpreted.

"I don't want those people inside my house, you know that!"

"Mei, there's no way around it. It's so much easier and it takes less time. I already told you I've to make as much money as possible before the baby comes."

That was all Sasuke managed to hear clearly when walking from the bathroom and back to his bedroom. In there, he did not really pay much attention to the quiet quarrel they had in the kitchen. He was more focused on finding something.

He searched for so long and at one point, he was about to give up and just go to school. He would be late if he and Itachi did not go soon.

But suddenly, Sasuke finally spotted what it was he had been looking for. At least he thought that had to be it. He had never seen it before. Had Itachi been hiding his stuff there all along?

The pale boy removed the loose board, which was not placed correctly, and found a hollow space underneath it. He stuck one hand down the hole and grabbed the first thing his hand bumped into.

It was all small plastic bags. But they were not empty. They all contained at least something. Some had pills, some had powder, some even contained a kind of dried grass, plant or something. Sasuke wrecked his brain to try and figure out what it was and why Itachi was hiding it in his room. The only thing he could come up with was that it had to be the thing the police always came to look for. At least Sasuke remembered seeing Itachi flush some similar bags down the toilet right before the police went inside on a raid.

He bit his lip thoughtfully after putting all the bags back down into the cavity. Sasuke had never noticed that the board could be separated from the others before. Did that mean something?

Carefully, he placed the board neatly where it was supposed to be so you could no longer tell that there was a hidey-hole underneath it. If what was in there was important to Itachi, but on the same time was something that could get him thrown into jail, Sasuke would make sure to protect his big brother's secret at all costs.

Itachi was the one to follow Sasuke to school as he used to, but when Sasuke got off from school again, the unusual occurred.

"Hey, Sasuke-chan, ready to go home?" Mei asked after placing herself in front of young boy.

"Where's Nii-chan?"

"He's busy today and I had the day off. Hope you don't mind that I'm the one to pick you up?"

"Oh. No, it's fine."

"We gotta hurry back today. Itachi and I have something to do so I hope you don't mind being home alone for a little while." She sent Sasuke an apologetic smile as they started walking home.

"No... It's okay."

Sasuke had been left alone at home many times before. He was a big boy and he was supposed to be able to take care of himself, at least for a couple of hours. But that time, they were gone for almost the entire day.They still had not come home when the hour hand hit seven.

The black haired boy wondered if he was should start eating by himself or if Mei was going to come home soon and cook for him. Or maybe they were going to bring takeout! The thought alone literally made Sasuke's mouth water. They rarely got takeout because Mei was such an amazing cook. Sasuke really did like whatever she made for them, but once in a while it was nice to eat things from Mcdonald's or Ichibanya. He could not resist the tempting curry rice that particular fast food chain offered. If there was one thing he loved, it was spicy food. Though his absolute favorite dish had to be Mei's special riceballs with bonita filling. Nothing beat that.

A car pulled up the driveway, taking Sasuke out of his food heaven. It had to be them, he thought and sprinted towards the window, immediately having to realize the ugly truth.

"The police?" Sasuke whispered to himself and took a few steps away from the window.

They were there to confiscate those bags Itachi made money off. It had to be that.

Without allowing himself to think things through properly, he ran into his room, removed the board, gathered all the plastic bags, put the board back in place and quickly covered the detachable board with his dirty laundry before finally rushing towards the bathroom with all the bags in his arms. Unfortunately, he stumbled over the threshold and he dropped everything on the bathroom floor.

He broke out into a cold sweat as he began to throw the bags into the toilet one by one. When he figured the toilet would not be able to flush with anymore in it, he paused to click the button that would empty the toilet bowl for all evidence. He repeated that twice more before everything was gone and someone knocked on the front door.

Sasuke looked around to make sure that he had gotten them all. Then he went back the way he came from to check that he had not dropped any on the way to the bathroom either. Everything appeared to be gone.

"Police, open the door. We have a warrant." One police officer claimed.

Sasuke walked up to the door. His heart was pounding fast and he did not know where to place his hands. "I... I-I'm not supposed to let st-strangers inside," he stuttered.

"It's the police," the same man repeated. "Open this door now or we're gonna break it down."

The young boy did not dare to try and hold them back any longer. It was the police, after all. What if they were going to put him to jail for not following orders? He just wished his big brother was there with him. Maybe then it would not feel as scary.

The lock clicked and the police entered, seeming surprised when only finding a child inside the house. They were not as polite and gentle as Sasuke had hoped. One officer immediately started frisking the boy. He never liked it when they did that.

All the other officers started going through the different rooms of the house and they were just as careless as always. Sasuke flinched several times during the search, especially when things were swept down from the tables closest to him. He wanted to go check how they were treating the stuff in his room, but he did not dare to move. He stood by the door for the entire time.

Suddenly, after Sasuke had been through 15 minutes of hell, the door cracked open once again.

"What the...?" said a voice very familiar to Sasuke when the man heard loud noises from inside the house.

"Nii-chan!" Sasuke shouted from behind the arms that hid his mousy face. Itachi looked behind the door, finding his frightened little brother sitting shrinkingly in a corner.

"Oi, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Itachi shouted and high-stepped through the labyrinth of broken things on the floor towards the police officer closest to him. The man shouted something to all the others and soon Itachi stood facing all of them.

Sasuke looked up from his hiding place to see if they were hurting Itachi, but Mei scooped him up into her arms, holding him so their bellies touched, and discretely guided him to look the other way by placing a reassuring hand on the back of his neck. She did not want him to see them strip searching his brother.

"Pants down, hands on the wall, spread your legs." That part had always been the worst part to Itachi. It was degrading, but he knew it could not be helped. He was just thankful that Mei was looking away and that she had made sure that Sasuke would not have to watch it either.

"All clear," one finally said after having searched everywhere and everyone. Sasuke was not sure for how long they had been there, but in his opinion, it was too long.

The police was distinctly displeased with leaving the ruined residence empty-handed. Mei began sorting out the mess, but Itachi did not help. He went right for Sasuke's bedroom.

Sasuke stooped and picked up a few pieces from a ruined vase.

"Leave it, Sasuke," Mei said softly. "I'll clean that up. You should get ready for bed."

"But I'm hungry." The young boy placed the scattered porcelain on the kitchen counter.

"I'll make you something to eat in a minute. Go watch some TV, okay?" Sasuke nodded. There was nothing at this time a night that Sasuke wanted to watch, but he did not complain.

"Where is it?!" Itachi shouted from Sasuke's room, only to stomp into the open kitchen/living room.

"What are you talking about?" Mei asked.

"My stuff. It's all gone. Where is it? Did they take it?" he snarled with a lot of fuss.

They stood yelling at each other for a moment before Sasuke finally realized what it was Itachi was looking for.

"I took it." Mei and Itachi's eyes were fixed on Sasuke. "I saw the police and I flushed it all down the toilet." One of Itachi's eyes twitched like he was in pain.

"You... did what?" Sasuke was not sure what that tone meant.

Itachi walked in front of his little brother with heavy steps, grabbed his arm hard and slapped him across his face.

"Itachi!" Mei's mouth was wide open in shock. She wanted to move over and protect Sasuke, but she was too stunned to move. Sasuke wore a similar expression.

"Do you have any idea how much money you've cost me?! You flushed thousands of dollars down the toilet like it was nothing. What the hell am I supposed to do now?!" Sasuke was in a blue funk.

"Itachi, let go of him," Mei growled, boring her nails into Itachi's arms. Neither Sasuke nor Itachi had even noticed that Mei had moved over to them. Shhe had never sounded so furious.

Itachi sent her a look, then let go of Sasuke's bruised arm and retreated to his bedroom. Mei followed her confused boyfriend with her eyes, placing a hand on her already growing belly.

"Sasuke, you did the right thing. Itachi is just-" Sasuke cut her off by slapping away the hand she tried to settle on his shoulder. He looked at her angrily with teary eyes before running to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

When the pale boy finally decided to come out of his room again, he found his big brother sitting by the window, smoking one of those oddly shaped cigarettes, which smoke smelled sweeter than most others.

Sasuke approached him slowly, imagining he was a ninja hidden in the shadows. But Itachi noticed him straight away.

"Why aren't you in bed?" he asked, looking back out of the window while taking a drag of his cigarette.

"I-I couldn't sleep." Sasuke's eyes bounced up and down as Itachi fidgeted with his feet. The older of them did not look so upset anymore and though Sasuke wanted to apologize for his bad doings, he did not dare.

His brother had never treated him so roughly before.

Instead, Sasuke asked him the standard question. "Can I try?" The black haired boy moved closer to his brother, but only to receive a harmless poke to the forehead.

"You already know the answer to that." Sasuke looked away, provoked. Itachi put out his cigarette, got up on his feet and closed the window. "Come, Sasuke, I'll read you a bedtime story."

Before the story reached its end, Sasuke was already asleep.


	3. Arc 3 Losing Grip

**Arc 03**

**Losing Grip**

The tired boy sat up in his bed and stretched his arms above his head till both of them made a quiet cracking sound. Another day of school was awaiting him. Normally that was enough to make him want to lie in his bed for "five more minutes," but lately, he had started enjoying going to school.

He pulled away his TMNT decorated bedcover and scratched his chest idly underneath the purple Donatello pajamas before dragging his feet all the way into the living room.

"You promised to dry out before the baby comes." Mei crossed her arms and looked down at Itachi who sat in the couch, blowing out another breath of smoke.

"I am. Haven't you noticed?" Sasuke watched them from the doorway. Mei was caressing her stomach that seemed to become more and more prominent with every day. She obviously was not pleased with the answer she had gotten, but she did not scold him, only sent him a sad, resigned look.

Itachi was right. He was not smoking nearly as much as he used to, but into Mei's 14th week of pregnancy, he started smoking more frequently again. Sasuke did not find it necessary for Mei to get upset about it. After all, it had never been a problem for Itachi to smoke in Sasuke's presence so why should it be a problem once the baby came?

"I can't move the bed by myself, can you at least help me do that?" Itachi sighed loudly, placed the still lit cigarette in the ashtray and rose.

"Sure," he replied and followed her into the bedroom.

Sasuke was left alone in the living room. They had not even noticed that he had gotten up. Perhaps it was because he was up earlier than usual?

He walked over to the couch and looked down at the weird cigarette for a moment before picking it up and putting it to his lips. Imitating his older brother, he took a long drag of it and inhaled deeply afterward. The smoke bit his tongue and burned in his mouth and throat. His eyes watered. He could not hold the smoke in any longer, but when he tried to exhale, he started coughing frantically instead.

Itachi and Mei immediately came back into the living room. They had heard Sasuke's loud coughing fit. When Mei saw what it was Sasuke was holding, she gasped. Itachi, on the other hand, tramped over by his brother and violently took the cigarette away from him.

Sasuke was not paying much attention to the scolding his older brother was giving him. Not because he did not want to, only because he could not concentrate on it. The coughing would not stop and he was beginning to feel a little dizzy.

"Nii-sa-an... I... I don't fe-el so well," the youngest present managed to choke out. In the end, he threw up all over the floor, his big brother finally having a change of expression.

Sasuke did not go to school that day. He spent the majority of his time in bed, listening to his brother and his girlfriend fighting.

Mei called Itachi irresponsible and told him that she did not want to see anymore of those strangers inside her house. Itachi defended himself, saying that it was necessary and that it was the only way to make enough money. But he did agree with her on the first part. He said he should not leave joints so carelessly behind. He regretted it deeply and promised to start drying out again.

Sasuke wondered for long what a "joint" was. He had heard his brother use that word many times before, but he would never specify what it was it meant. Neither was he sure what Itachi meant by "drying out."

He closed his eyes and pictured his brother looking like a dried grape right until the point where he fell asleep.

oOoOoOoOoOo

I do not own Donatello nor Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in general...


	4. Arc 4 To Lose

**Arc 04**

**To Lose**

Sasuke woke up with a sore feeling in his back and he did not realize why until he felt the hard surface underneath him and the itchy, red blanket on top of him. He sat up in confusion, looking around the living room. He had been sleeping on the couch? His eyes directed towards the blanket he held in one hand. It was strange. Itachi usually carried him to his bed whenever he fell asleep in front of the TV, but this time all he got was a blanket.

There was a clattering outside the front door and Sasuke turned to look at it. Soon after, the door was unlocked and in came Itachi, Mei's stomach and silver haired man that Sasuke recognized easily. His name was Kakashi and he had been there many times before. The black haired boy had even been looked after by that man a few times before. He supposed it was one of Itachi's close friends.

"Let's take it to the living room," Itachi said, finding his way through the kitchen, carrying an armful of baby things. "Hey, Sasuke. Wait, shouldn't you be in school now?" he asked once he had eyed the wall clock after discovering Sasuke's presence. Itachi seemed extraordinarily cheerful that day.

"It's Saturday." Sasuke was confused by his question. How could he forget what day it was?

"Oh, that's right." That was all he had to say before he went back to focusing on the things he dropped on the middle of the floor. "So, how are we gonna do this?" he asked, looking up at his slightly taller friend.

"Guess we just have to put it together. Isn't there an instruction following with it or something?"

"I have it." Mei handed it to Kakashi with a wide smile crossing her face.

"What're you building?" Sasuke asked when Itachi had taken off all the plastic from the white painted wood pieces.

Itachi did not look at Sasuke when answering. "A cradle." He sounded so happy. "Kakashi, you can read the instructions while I put it together."

"Sure."

Mei watched the two men working their magic. She leaned back and supported her heavy body against the kitchen counter, resting both her hands on top of her stomach. Sasuke thought she resembled an elephant more and more as she got bigger.

His black eyes glided back to the two men. "Can I help?" he asked and got ready to jump off the couch.

"No, it's okay, we can handle it," his brother told him with a smile. "Why don't you call one of your friends? Maybe you could go to the park." Itachi was not looking at him anymore.

Sasuke dropped back onto the couch and mumbled to himself, "I don't wanna go to the park with a friend."

Kakashi stayed and ate dinner with them that evening. Mei had taken her time in the kitchen to make a real feast and they all ate till their stomachs were about to burst. Well, Mei's were on the verge of that to begin with, Sasuke thought and wondered how she could have such a huge stomach without the rest of her body looking fat.

A tipsy Itachi called a cab for the drunken Kakashi while the entirely sober Mei put Sasuke to bed.

It was late and Sasuke was kind of tired, but something prevented him from sleeping. Thoughts rushed through his mind and he just could not shake them off. So he waited until his big brother and his girlfriend had gone to bed. Then he waited a little longer. Finally, he got up and walked out of his room.

He stood in front of their bedroom door for a while before he dared to carefully crack it open. He positioned himself so he could take a peek inside. The first thing he saw was the cradle that had been moved in there after they had finished it. He looked at it with narrowed eyes, but opened the door further when he heard a weird noise coming from inside the room that was only lit by the moon light that sneaked inside through the half closed blinds.

Sasuke craned his neck and tip toed so he could take a better look at the people in the bed. They did not seem to have detected the young boy who was watching them closely.

There were a lot of alien noises coming from Mei. She was lying on the bed – completely naked. Sasuke cocked his head when trying to figure out what his brother was doing. He was lying with his head between Mei's legs. He was not moving around much, only his hands traveled around her round belly.

The pale boy's head tilted down and he buzzed, sending them a long, black look before slamming the door hard, returning to his own bedroom.

He lay in his bed for some time before someone pressed down the door handle and entered.

Quickly, Sasuke replaced his resentful expression with a innocent and tired one.

"Sasuke?" Itachi walked over by his younger brother's bed and squatted down beside it. "What are you doing up?" Sasuke turned to look at his brother with a sad look on his face.

"I... had a bad dream," the black haired boy whispered pitifully as he locked eyes with his brother.

"That's all?" Itachi just barely smiled while caressing Sasuke's cheek with his fingers.

"Can I sleep with you tonight, nii-san?" he asked and looked away from his older brother's observant eyes. Itachi chuckled lightly and leaned forward to give his brother a hug. Sasuke pressed himself closer into Itachi's embrace, missing being in his arms already before he let go off him again.

"Sorry, Sasuke, but I think you should stay here tonight. Mei needs to sleep properly at night. And you know, she needs a lot more space now too." Itachi tried to lighten the mood, but he could tell the smile on his brother's face was fake.

He stood up straight again and was just about to walk out the door when Sasuke stopped him.

"You promised me that we would go to the park today."

Itachi blinked a couple of times, remembering the day he promised. He scratched the back of his neck and lowered his head ruefully. "That totally slipped my mind. You know I've been really busy lately and-"

"When are chichi and haha coming back? I miss them." He was not sure why he told Itachi that. Especially not when it was a lie. He did not really care that much about his parents, but for some reason, he wanted Itachi to think so.

Sasuke did not even remember his parents that well. His brother had been the one to take care of him practically ever since he was born. The Uchihas were busy people – their parents in particular. They always went abroad to settle some deal with other important people. That was how it was and that was how it had always been. _They_ had not changed, but Itachi had.

The older brother smiled pained at Sasuke and answered him flatly before returning to his sleeping place beside Mei. "I don't know, Sasuke. I have no idea." Then he left.

That night, Sasuke cried himself to sleep.


	5. Arc 5 Foolish Little Brother

**Arc 05**

**Foolish Little Brother**

"Get up, we're running late!" Itachi called, waking Sasuke for the third time that morning. The black eyed boy did not want to go to school. He felt like staying in bed and never leaving it again, but his older brother would not hear any of it. He personally came and dragged him out of bed, pushing him to the bathroom and rushing him as he ate breakfast. Sasuke simply ignored Itachi and did everything in his own pace until he got on his brother's last nerve.

Even though Mei was then near her time, she still managed to get up early in the morning and make Sasuke a solid lunchbox for him to take to school.

While following Sasuke to school, Itachi told his brother about all the changes they would have to do once the baby came. And there was not long till that happened, Itachi constantly reminded him. Sasuke did not even pretend to listen.

"Hey, did you hear me?" Itachi asked irritably once they stood in front of the school.

"What?"

"I said I had a lot of errands to run today so I'll probably not be here right away when you get off. Just wait for me, I won't be more than 20 minutes late."

Sasuke shrugged and walked away from Itachi.

"Hey, aren't you even gonna say goodbye?"

The pale boy turned around and glared at his brother for a short moment. "Goodbye, _Itachi,_" he hissed right before disappearing from Itachi's sight, leaving the older one of them behind with a stinging feeling in his heart.

At two o'clock, Sasuke got off as he usually did. He went out to the front gate immediately to wait for his older brother. Some of the other children from his class asked him if he wanted to go play while waiting, but he did not want to go. He just wanted to go home so he could play alone in his own room.

Time went by slowly, but it had not stopped, even if it felt like that to Sasuke. He trudged back and forth on the pavement, kicking stones whenever he passed one.

2:02.

2:10

Sasuke sat down, leaning against the black front gate. He watched as all his classmates went home with their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. He snorted at the sight and started making invisible drawings on the pavement with one finger.

2:15

2:25

Itachi was late. Why had not he come yet? Had he completely forgotten about Sasuke?

The young boy got up. It had started raining and he was already drenched. He waited another ten minutes, but Itachi was still nowhere to be seen.

"He forgot me," Sasuke snapped and clenched his fists. Itachi was probably busy with his new baby that had not even been born yet. Sasuke made a wry face at the thought and tried to prevent himself from crying. He was not going to cry. Not anymore.

He took one step forward. He put the one foot in front of the other. Again and again and again. And suddenly, he was well on his way home. Alone.

It was his first time to walk home by himself. He had never done that because Itachi would not allow it. "It's too dangerous," he always said, but at that point, Sasuke did not care. He had walked the same way home a million times. It was not like he was not going to get lost or anything.

The black haired boy stopped by the park. He had not been there in a long time - not since they got pregnant.

Most people had left because of the rain. There were only the boring ones left. The ones who only wandered around in couples, hiding under their umbrellas. But he stayed there for ten minutes anyway. Then he walked on.

When he came to the broad road he needed to cross in order to get home, he stopped, waiting along with all the other people.

The man turned green and everyone began crossing the road. Except for Sasuke because a certain couple had caught his eye. It was a man and his kid brother. He knew the youngest of them from school. He watched as the two brunets went over the road hand in hand. For some reason, he could not take his eyes off them. A sad look entered his else angry eyes. Soon, they were out of sight and Sasuke resumed his walk home, head low and eyes watery.

"Look out!" someone shouted and Sasuke felt a hard push in his chest. He landed hard on the asphalt pavement, scrapping both his palms so badly that it bled from them. When he heard something clash with what sounded like the hood of a car and shattering glass, he looked up, seeing a human form fly through the air and land behind the car that had hit him, another car braking just in time not to run over the wounded person.

Women and children screamed, several cars stopped and men were rushing to the rescuer's aid.

"Call 119!" a man yelled, resulting in a bunch of people immediately fishing their cell phones out and dialing the emergency number all at once.

Sasuke looked around confusedly as he got back up on his feet. His heart was pounding hard against his small chest and his breathing was heavy. It was all very confusing.

Slowly, he made his way through the crowd. He wanted to see who had pushed him out of the way.

A loose ponytail of black hair came in sight, then a set of pure black eyes.

Sasuke's heart stopped for a second.

"Itachi!" he shouted and got on his knees next to his battered brother that were bleeding from openings he was not supposed to have. He was withering in agony.

"Get the boy away from here," a man ordered, but Sasuke avoided the arms that tried to grab him. His knees started bleeding.

"Don't," Itachi coughed, lightly placing his hand on Sasuke's trembling arm. His words were directed towards the men that were trying to remove his younger brother from the horrifying scene. He came through loud and clear.

"Itachi?" Sasuke's voice were quivering. He looked down at Itachi with tears streaming down his face.

Itachi closed one eye and tightened his jaw in pain. "Why... didn't you wait... for me?"

"I'm sorry, Itachi, I'm sorry! I thought you forgot about me. I'm sorry!"

Itachi chuckled. Sasuke could see that it hurt him physically and he only ended up coughing.

Then, all of a sudden, Sasuke felt two fingers mildly poking his forehead. "You should know... I would never forge-get you... Foolish little brother."

"Itachi?" Sasuke panted apprehensively when his brother started to get up.

"Hey, stay down! What if you're seriously injured?!" a stranger shouted as he walked over to Itachi to make him stop moving, but Itachi shoved him away.

"Get out of my way." He began rising and everyone stood gawking at him. "I'm have to... to take my brother home."

"Itachi?" Sasuke repeated worriedly, looking up at Itachi with frightened eyes as the older one straightened his back, only to receive a sharp pain in his side. He was only supporting himself with one leg.

"Has he gone mad?"

"I don't know?"

"Hey, please, at least stay where you are till the ambulance arrives!"

Itachi did not listen to any of them. He only smiled down at his brother. It was the kind of smile Sasuke had not experienced in a long time.

"Come," Itachi said quietly, stretching out one hand. Sasuke looked at it for a moment, then stretched out his.

Just before their hands reached, Itachi closed his eyes and collapsed on the ground.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked down at his brother. "Nii-" he whispered, not being able to breathe. "Nii-"

The tears started flowing faster and he gasped for air.

"Nii-chaaan!"

The desolated boy did not get any sleep that night.


	6. Arc 6 The Picture Book

**Arc 06**

**The Picture Book**

Sasuke awoke with a sore neck. He put his head back into place and massaged the back of his neck in an attempt to ease some of the pain. He had fallen a sleep in the chair again.

A few different machines beeped occasionally, always within the same interval of time. The pale boy looked at his brother that lay in a bed next to him. He was even paler than himself. Tubes were going in and out of him from everywhere. He even had one of those bags that you peed in when you could not get out of bed and do it yourself – as Mei had told him. He found it a little strange and a tad gross, but he figured it was more comfortable for his brother if he did not have to sleep with a full bladder.

"Sasuke?" The boy looked at Mei who had just returned. She had been outside, trying to call Itachi and Sasuke's parents.

"They didn't pick up," Sasuke stated, already knowing that was what she was about to tell him.

"No, but I'm gonna call them again later. Wanna go home with me for a few hours? You can take a shower and I could make us a proper meal." Sasuke could see that it pained Mei to ask him to leave. She would much rather just stay herself too.

"No thank you. I'm not hungry." His eyes wandered back to the mysterious bags that hang next to his brother's bed. "I won't eat as long as nii-chan isn't eating."

Mei put a hand on the sad boy's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "Sasuke, you need to eat. Your brother gets nourishment through one of those tubes, you know, so you should eat too." Sasuke sent her a puzzled look and she understood. "Nourishment is the same as food. He just doesn't have to be awake when they give it to him like that."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and took his favorite book, which Mei had brought him from home, and started going through it quietly. Mei sighed loudly.

"You really need a bath. Come on, why don't you come home with me for a little while?" Sasuke shook his head wildly and stayed focused on his book, refusing to let Mei win this time. "Well," she started. "I guess I can't leave you here all alone." She sat down next to him.

A minute went by before Sasuke finally pulled himself together to answer. "I'm not alone. Nii-chan is here." Mei did not reply, only stroked his greasy hair while he continued reading his book.

What she did not know was that Sasuke was not really reading. He was in deep thoughts. Thoughts regarding the person who lay only two meters away from him. Sasuke got that feeling again. He missed his brother even though he was physically very close to him.

He lowered his chin to his chest, closing his eyes for a little while longer than you normally would when blinking. Mei and Itachi's child could come at any time and Sasuke felt bad for possibly being the reason why Itachi would not witness the birth. That was all he and Mei ever talked about – the birth.

There was a pang in Sasuke's chest. How could he be so stupid? If he had just stayed where he was supposed to, Itachi would not have had to sacrifice himself. At least he was not... gone... that was always something. He was just sleeping. He was tired after all those months of preparing. Tired of having to deal with Sasuke's complaints. He had been so childish and now his brother suffered from it. But he was only tired. Just tired. Any minute now, he could wake up and greet Sasuke with that goofy morning smile of his.

"Miss Terumi?" asked a tall man in a long, white coat after entering the ward Itachi lay in.

"Yes?" Mei rose from the chair and turned to face the brunet with eyes just as green as her own.

"Can I speak with you for a minute. We have the new test results."

"Of course." She turned her attention to Sasuke who was already looking up at her. "I'm gonna come back in a little while so just stay here with Itachi, okay?" The young boy nodded and Mei left the room with the tanned doctor.

For a minute, he just sat in silence, watching his brother lie there without any other sign of life than the heaving chest. He would apologize to Itachi as soon as he woke up.

An hour went by and Mei still had not returned. Sasuke was getting a little impatient since he knew that whatever the doctor wanted to talk to her about, it had something to do with Itachi. They had stayed at the hospital for weeks already, but no one could clarify what was going on. No one was able to tell Sasuke when his brother was going to wake up.

Sasuke glanced at Itachi, then over at the cell phone Mei had left on one of the tables in there. He pondered whether or not to try and call his parents. Maybe if he called, they would finally answer.

When Mei did not show up within the next minutes, Sasuke finally put his book aside, grabbed the phone and ran outside the hospital to make a call. He was not very good with cell phones, but he was able to find his parents number in the buddy list and soon, he was being connected to a cell that was located outside Japan.

"Beep... Beep... Beep... Hello, you've reached Uchiha Fugaku. I'm not available at the moment, but please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Bleep." Sasuke lowered the cell from his ear and looked at it. There really was not a way to reach them, was there? Maybe they just did not care enough about them. All the Uchiha brothers had was each other. That was how it had always been and apparently that was staying that way.

Dejectedly, Sasuke walked back to Itachi's ward where he sat down and waited for Mei's return.

Why would not Itachi just wake up already?

"Sasuke?" a soft voice whispered, carefully shaking the black haired boy awake.

"What?" Sasuke yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Come, we're going home to sleep tonight. Take your things with you. We will come back tomorrow."

At that moment, Sasuke was wide awake.

"Wha-What? No, I don't wanna go back home. I wanna stay here with Itachi!"

"Honey, please, don't start an argument now, I'm tired and-"

"No! I'm not going home. You can go home. I'm staying right here!" Sasuke went over and grabbed the rail of Itachi's hospital bed.

"Sasuke, don't start. Please!" She grabbed him and tried to loosen his grip around the rail, but he would not give up.

"I said no!" he shouted carelessly and wrenched away from Mei, running to the other end of the room, pressing his back against the wall. "I'm not going anywhere!"

Mei waddled calmly over to Sasuke, her head lower than usual. Her bangs were covering her eyes when she grabbed Sasuke's arm. "There's no point in staying here anymore," she said almost soundlessly.

"What do you mean? Itachi will wake up soon and I want to be here!" Sasuke kept on screaming, but Mei kept calm.

"We're going home, Sasuke."

"No!" He hit her on the arm as hard as he could, making her pause. She brought a hand up to her face and started sobbing. She did nothing else.

Sasuke gradually calmed down, not understanding what was going on. Why was Mei crying? Was it because he hit her? He immediately regretted his action, remembering how his brother had always told him that he could not hit a girl or anyone who was shorter or younger than himself. He took her hand and began petting it nervously.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you," he said and she shook her head slightly.

"It's okay." She sniffled and removed her hand from her face. That was when Sasuke finally saw her puffy, red eyes and the devastated look on her face. "Sasuke." The inmost of his eyebrows went up in a worried look.

That atmosphere felt weird and that tone she used. He did not like that tone.

"Sasuke," she repeated, leveling with the significantly shorter boy. She brushed his cheek with the long, delicate fingers, being careful not to scratch him with her black painted fingernails. "I spoke to the doctor. He thinks we should go home."

Sasuke shook his head grudgingly. "Why? Why can't we stay and wait till nii-chan wakes?"

"Because..." Mei hesitated. Then she put on a weak smile. "Because he might sleep for a long, long time."

The pale boy frowned and turned his head away from her. "Don't say that," he hissed through his teeth.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I'm... really, really..." Her voice cracked and she bit her nail to try and keep herself from crying in front of the boy again. But she could not. The doctors could not find out what was wrong and the coma Itachi had went into was most likely to be everlasting. At least they did not see any point in them staying there any longer. They did not want to feed them anymore false hope.

"Nii-chan will wake up." Sasuke sniffed as his eyes went glossy. "You're lying. He's gonna wake up!" A tear ran down his cheek and his feet became unsteady. "Nii-chan will... He will..." Sasuke started sobbing loudly and he let himself be taken into Mei's fragile arms. She kissed the top of his head and pressed him as close to her chest as possible. No matter what, she would be there for him. Salty tears gathered in her eyes and soon, she could not keep them from falling.

"It's okay, Sasuke. It's alright." She whispered, running her hand up and down his back as soothingly as she could manage at the time being.

"Nii-chan," the miserable child cried, nuzzling the side of his head into his brother's girlfriend's neck, his nose getting buried in her long hair. It was not satisfying enough and how could it be when her hair was nothing like Itachi's.

Sasuke cried harder.

Afterward, Mei collected all their stuff and put it in the different bags she had brought along with them during the time they had spent at the hospital. Sasuke did not come out of the bathroom until Mei said they were ready to leave.

"Go say goodbye to your brother. We'll be back again tomorrow." Sasuke nodded faintly and walked over to his brother's bed. He watched him for a while then turned to look up at Mei.

"Before we go, can I read nii-chan a bedtime story?" Sasuke's eyes were filled with expectations and Mei could not say no to him, and so she handed him his favorite book, the one Itachi had read to him a million times already, and gave the boy a bleak smile as she did so.

Sasuke went over to the chair beside the sleeping man's bed and he settled down on it, getting comfortable before opening big picture book.

Mei went over by the window. Sasuke had made it clear to her that he did not want any help with reading the book. He wanted to do it by himself. She was sure he could do it, but only because he had memorized almost every single word in that book and could improvise with help of the pictures in case he got stuck.

It was raining outside.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Things Change," Sasuke read from the title and went on instantly. "It was a nice, quiet day in the sewer for the four ninja turtles and their sensei, Master Splinter." He turned pages. "Leonardo was practicing with his katana against Donatello and his bo. Raphael was taking a nap on the couch while Michelangelo skated around on his skate board, swinging his nunchaku wildly around."

Mei gazed out of the window the entire time, only glancing over at Sasuke whenever he had a problem with some of the words. When she knew the story was coming to an end, she began to mentally prepare herself to leave.

"Finally, they found Splinter and their new home. The I..." he paused and looked closely at the word. He knew the book was supposed to say something like _"The … outside the sewer had been a success,"_ but he just could not remember what the missing word was. "Iiiin... inva..." He spelled it out loud, "i, n, v, e, s, t, i, g, a, t, i, o, n... Inva. No. In..."

"Investigation," a hoarse voice whispered with difficulty.

Sasuke's head immediately shot up from his chest and he stared at his brother wide eyed. Mei did the exact same thing.

Itachi breathed in deeply, his chest rising up and down quicker than before.

His eyes slowly fluttered open. Ironically enough, he looked more tired than ever.

"Nii...-chan?" Sasuke held his breath, wanting to pinch himself to check if he was dreaming.

Itachi turned his head, it being almost impossible because of all the tubes he was tangled in. It took some time, but at last a faint, tired smile showed on his face. "Hey. I'm ha-appy you wa-waited... for me."

Sasuke cried.

And that night, he would experience the best sleep one could ever dream to have.

**oOoOoOoOoOo**

**This is the end of the story, though there will be an epilogue at some point. I'll try to get it written as soon as possible ^^ **

**Also, I might change this into a one shot (well, two shot with the epilogue) because I think it works better that way. So if you're following the story, don't fear when the next mail you get from this says "Nii-chan has been update. Chapter 2" lol xD – then it will actually be a new chapter – to cut it out in cardboard. Probably not necessary. I'm babbling, sorry. **


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